Description:
The Tropics was opened by Harry "Sugie" Sugarman in Beverly Hills in 1936. This was one of the earliest of the Pre-Polynesian Pop power houses that catered to the motion picture industry. The Tropics was purchased by Steven Crane and turned into the Luau in 1953, what a history.

I have the classic fold-out menu mailer with the three monkeys. There are several versions of this one.

I have also seen other items from The Tropics:

A souvenir photo with a nice view of the interior

A menu from the Chinese Buddha Room.

This is a cool advertising hand bill.

A close-up of the bamboo bar.

The bar looks similar to the first bar at the Luau, as scene in this postcard I have.

Here is an early photo of the exterior of the building after it became the Luau in 1953.

My understanding is that Sugarman opened a second Tropics in Hollywood.

The menu I have and posted at the beginning of the thread featured the wine list. Must have been an early version, as the menu changed to tropical drinks named after movie stars. Here is that version of the menu that Sven posted a while ago.

I would love to have one of those table cloths. Charlie just doesn't look the same with out his mustache.

Nice post DC, that is one of the best collections. A lot of the different archives charge money or make you get a library card from the local library that holds the collection. That can be a chore so Mahalo to the LA Library.